In such apparatus, the drawer provided in the front of the apparatus allows the record disc to be received in an external loading/unloading position, and the record discs are carried into the interior of the housing of the apparatus by translation, bringing the record discs above the turntable and finally depositing the record discs on the turntable, the record discs then being in the operating, i.e., reproduction position.
The precision of the positioning of the record discs before being lowered onto the turntable is ensured by the combination of the well-defined travel of the drawer and a fixed means carried by the drawer to receive and hold the record discs in a given position and a horizontal plane.
The positioning of the record discs is effected without any problem as long as only record discs of the same diameter are loaded. Problems arise when the apparatus is adapted to receive record discs of different diameters. It would be advantageous to provide a locating means for record discs of smaller diameter inside that provided for those of a larger diameter. This solution, which involves record disc supports at different heights, is only compatible with the requirements of the reproduction device with difficulty and greatly complicates the positioning and removal by the user of the smaller record discs into or from their position on the drawer. On the other hand, in the construction as described above, of which that forming the subject of Dutch Pat. No. 85 00593 is a good example, it has been necessary, in order to avoid insurmountable problems, to be satisfied with supports having a very slight difference in level. As a result, many users position their record discs badly or, being sensitive to inertia movement of the drawer, the record discs are displaced in an uncontrolled manner by the movement of the drawer. In both cases, the end result is to see record discs of smaller diameter badly centered and, as a result, impossible to position on the turntable with the consequence either that the equipment does not work or the record disc is not suitably clamped against the turntable.